title: Mapping the minimal regions within the ORF73 protein required for herpesvirus saimiri episomal persistence.
abstract: Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) establishes a persistent infection in which the viral genome persists as a circular non-integrated episome. ORF73 tethers HVS episomes to host mitotic chromosomes, allowing episomal persistence via an interaction with the chromosome-associated protein, MeCP2. Here we demonstrate that ORF73 also interacts with the linker histone H1 via its C terminus, suggesting it associates with multiple chromosome-associated proteins. In addition, we show that the C terminus is also required for the ability of ORF73 to bind the terminal repeat region of the HVS genome. These results suggest that the ORF73 C terminus contains all the necessary elements required for HVS episomal persistence. Using a range of ORF73 C terminus deletions to rescue the episomal maintenance properties of a HVSDelta73 recombinant virus, we show that a C terminus region comprising residues 285-407 is sufficient to maintain the HVS episome in a dividing cell population.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Rhoswyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Sally M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macnab
authors.affiliation: Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.|Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Whitehouse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006567:Herpesvirus 2, Saimiriine; D006801:Humans; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012453:Saimiri / Q000821:virology; D014162:Transfection; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014764:Viral Proteins